Human Extinction
by Aleatoire
Summary: Vampires rule the entire world; humans are extinct and only a myth in some of the oldest minds. Bella Swan moves to Forks to live with her “dad” for a bit, and discovers something: Edward Cullen. What is he, and why does Bella feel she wants to kill him?
1. Bloodlust? What's that?

**New story! If it is at all confusing, please ask. It is a very different concept, I think. Enjoy!**

Bella Swan was not a normal human girl. In fact, she wasn't human at all. Nor was her mother, whom she was leaving now to join her inhuman father in Forks, Washington. Her mother wasn't her mother, of course, and her father wasn't her father. The government had paired her with the two, but after they had split – which was still allowed – and her mother had found another mate, the government had ruled that her "parents" share Bella. She didn't remember her real parents. She didn't even remember what species they had been. She could, however, remember the muddy vision, dull emotions and slow, labored movements of that species, as that was what she once was.

Now however, she was a vampire, and she needed no human necessities such as food, water, washrooms or beds. They didn't exist anymore. The only thing that really mattered in the world was how large your hunting grounds were, and how much money you had to buy property. Occasionally wars broke out over property, land, or hunting grounds, usually resulting in the government intervening. The government intervened into everything, and with its superior technology and the most gifted vampires running it, it controlled the entire civilized world. Time mattered to no one anymore. A week could be measured in months, or years, depending on how old you were. The government had led the world to believe that humans were extinct, that animals were a vampire's natural blood source, and that vampires were the peak of civilization.

There are legends upheld by some of the oldest vampires, who were alive as vampires when humans were the predominant food source and ruling species in the world, but they are either largely ignored or, if they become too believable, destroyed.

So Bella began her new life in Forks believing that there was no such thing as humans. That belief was about to change.

"Hi Dad," I smiled awkwardly as I greeted my "father," Charlie Swan. The government has assigned us the last name, and we'd stuck to it, as was regulation. Charlie was the Policing Officer for the town of Forks, and he made sure that no property or hunting disputes broke out between the vampires that lived there.

It was day out, and I was lucky enough to be able to see Charlie sparkle, as it wasn't raining. It usually rained in Forks, and the last time I was here, about five decades ago, it hadn't stopped.

My father was an average looking vampire, with a friendly smile, brown curly hair and a brown moustache. He wore plaid shirts a lot, and I teased him about that. Plaid shirts were for poachers and thieves. His eyes were a brilliant orange at the moment, and with the multi-colored hues reflecting off his skin, he looked very handsome indeed.

"Bella you look radiant! That is probably because the last time you were here I didn't get to see you sparkle. What a shame we don't sparkle that often, here in Forks. But come in, please. Why are you here, child?" He led me into the wood paneled hallway of the expansive house, a house the Policing Officer automatically had the right to, along with the land it stood on. The last one had died trying to break up a dispute five hundred years ago, and a proud Charlie was promoted.

I had forgotten to announce my arrival beforehand in my haste to run here. "Oops, I didn't tell you. Renee's new mate, Phil, has asked to marry her, and he plays baseball and travels a lot. He and his profession bore me." Vampires rarely lied to their betters, and I felt no need to now. Sports did bore me, and Phil was one of the most boring males I'd met. That and I couldn't stand the way they looked at each other, full of love and dedication. My single father wouldn't need me to voice it aloud to understand _that._ "So maybe Forks has what I need, a little excitement, you know. Now that its one of the most popular places for real estate."

"Are you planning on going to school, or finding a job?" Charlie asked as he led me up to my room. I surveyed the space quickly in my peripherals – light blue walls, wood floors, one large window, a sloped ceiling, and a computer and phone on a desk - before replying.

"Actually, it's been a while since I've been in any kind of schooling, as I've had my job as a Talent Specialist for a while now. I was thinking I would try studying hunting tactics, and biology. Perhaps a language too…" Charlie left with a nod, leaving me to muse over which courses I would take.

Charlie's house had three washrooms, and luckily one was connected to my room. Charlie was hunting last night, and he'd come back this morning for only an hour before leaving for City Hall. I had the house to myself now.

I took the time I had before school began to take a shower – my mahogany hair, usually shiny and lustrous, had gotten dusty and matte looking in my run to Forks. It hung down to my waist, but I still had it shampooed, rinsed, dried and styled – straightened - in less than five minutes.

Next I took time to do my makeup, something I rarely did anyways. It was my first day of school here though, and I wanted to look as best I could. I offset my tawny eyes with a swipe of well placed black eyeliner, and one coating of flat black mascara. My lips had enough color on their own, so I let them be.

I had no idea what I was going to where, though. I'd only brought a small case of clothing from Arizona, and all my clothes already in the drawers at this house were tackily outdated.

I ended up in a cotton black cardigan, one that reached down to my knees in the front, but only the middle of my back in the back, a small but still appropriate indigo blue tank top with lace adorning the edges, and skinny cut black jeans.

I grabbed my bag, ran downstairs, and stepped into the shoes of my choice – silver kitten heels – without stopping my run.

I reached the school in seconds, and I still had five minutes before the bell would ring.

"Good morning, Miss…?" The pretty redheaded receptionist asked me as I breezed into the office area.

"Swan, Bella Swan," I replied coolly, knowing she would know who I was. Policing Officer was an infamous profession.

"Oh, Charlie Swan's assigned daughter," she smiled and pressed her hand to her chest, a sign of respect. "I haven't heard your name in a few decades. Which courses will you be joining this semester?"

"I'd like to study Biology, Spanish, Hunting, and Modern Technology, please."

She quickly typed up my schedule at her large laptop, then printed it off and handed it to me briskly. I received it with a smile, and was through the door of my first class, Hunting, in seconds.

Vampires were permitted to study whatever classes they wanted, if they chose to attend school at all. One could join at any time of the year, and stay for as long as they wanted. Getting a job did require at least one year of studying the sort of profession one would like to pursue.

I had taken a hunting class in Arizona, before starting to study for my chosen career, Talents. Today the class I was joining was going outside to do practical study.

No one asked me to announce my arrival in front of the class, and only one male asked me my name as we followed our teacher into the forest surrounding the school.

"You're new here, what's your name?" A cute male of a vampire kept stride with me and spoke quickly so we could finish our conversation before we would stop running.

"I'm Bella Swan, and you are…?" I smiled sidelong at him and noticed how good his sparkle looked with his spiky blonde hair.

"Mike Newton. My dad owns most of this town's land. I'm having a hunting party soon actually. Would you like to come?" He _was _good looking, and I knew what he was after. I could have him take me if I wished; I'd had a few males in Arizona, it was just a normal part of life. Until one found a mate they wanted for good, it was completely acceptable to take or be taken as often or as little as you wanted. Nothing came out of it but pleasure.

"That sounds great, sure," I accepted easily as we all came to a halt deep into the trees, trees in the forest that I knew the school, and therefore the government, owned. Any student registered with the school could hunt on these grounds, though it was mainly used for training. Students thought it shameful not to hunt on their own lands.

"Alright, today we're going to be practicing solo herding techniques. Does anyone have experience with this?" The teacher, a black haired female with sharp yellow eyes and pencil thin lips, asked us all as we stood there. I could smell a herd of deer already, about five hundred feet north of here, still within the school's boundaries.

A few people raised their hands, including Mike. I didn't, even though I did have a bit of experience with it. I wasn't as advanced as the teacher was looking for when she'd said experience. I checked.

"Good, good, you few that do know how to do this can help your classmates," she told them, and Mike instantly came to stand by my side.

As she told us the technique and then let us begin the hunt, I informed him, "I already know how to do this, thanks."

"Then why didn't you raise your hand?" His cute face held confusion as he looked me in the eye. His own eyes were nearly black.

"Oh, come with me anyways, you're thirsty," I insisted, and he gladly loped along beside me as I pursued the scent of the deer herd.

I was near two hundred yards into my pursuit when two things happened: I smelled a new scent so different yet so tantalizing – it was unlike anything I'd ever smelled before – and Mike grabbed my wrist and whispered into my ear.

"As thirsty as I am for some blood, I'm even hungrier for your body, Bella," Mike implied as he stopped and pulled me closer.

Normally I would have taken him up on the offer, but there were at least fifteen others in this forest at the moment, we were in school, and _that smell_ was driving my throat wild. Apparently Mike was indifferent to it.

I had to get rid of the latter, as I wanted whatever prey came with the former too badly to share it. So I did what I knew would work to distract him for a minute as I thought: I kissed him.

He was instantly engrossed in the embrace, but I remained coolly apathetic as I pondered what to do with him.

Finally I had an answer. I drew back and growled softly, then instructed him in as seductive a voice as I could muster, "You want more of me Mike?" He nodded readily. "Alright, then go finish the hunt and meet me at Lake Crescent. I'll be waiting…"

I broke away from him and ran, making sure to plant the idea to finish hunting firmly in his head. Once I was satisfied he would do what I'd asked, I got out of his head. His mind was extraordinarily simple for a vampire.

Now I could follow the scent without interference. I stopped when I was close to the boundary line, and then decided I didn't care if I was caught on someone else's land. My father would understand, surely.

I was about to cross the line when I sniffed, smelling the scent behind me. Had I caught the scent wrong? How could it be behind me now, when it had been in front of me seconds before?

I whirled around on the spot, and saw the source of the scent, about a hundred yards away. Of course, how silly of me, the wind had changed direction when I'd stopped.

The prey was all wrong though. Its back was to me, but I could see that its stance resembled that of an average male vampire's. A vampire couldn't emit such a delicious scent though; we had no blood, as far as I knew.

Its hair was a dull orange-brown color that had leaves and twigs in it. I could see the back of its neck, and it wasn't sparkling, so it definitely wasn't a vampire. Suddenly it unzipped its pants and grabbed something in front of it with its hands. A stream of yellow liquid rained down onto the tree it was facing. As more of the liquid came out, the more the air smelled like ammonia, a chemical I hadn't smelled since the government named it harmful to nature, and therefore our blood sources. The acrid smell helped to ease the burning in the back of my throat, and drowned out the scent of the thing's blood.

I was mesmerized. This thing had blood _and _ammonia in it? What on earth was it? As I wondered over its existence, it zipped up its pants and turned around to face me.

Its facial features did look a lot like a male vampire's, but its skin color was unlike any I'd ever seen, comparable only to some of the lighter dust storms in the Arizona desert, flecked with brown mud and dirt. And its eyes were _green_. They were beautiful eyes, and its odd colored hair hung over them slightly. Its mouth was almost female, but its very male jaw compensated for it. Tiny orange-brown hairs peppered its chin, and as it looked at me now, the strange eyes it had turned fearful.

"What are you?" I asked in a whisper, shocked that anything could resemble a vampire so closely, but have _blood._

It cocked its head to the side, an expression of confusion crossing its face. "I can't hear you," it said, and it was my turn to be confused. I was mostly speaking to myself when I'd asked the question, definitely not expecting an answer. But it talked too.

I advanced closer, until I was about twenty yards away. The scent of ammonia still lingered, so I was able to refrain from pouncing on it – for now. "I said, what are you?"

"Well, I'm estimating that in about twenty seconds or less I'll be dead, so it hardly matters what I am, right?" It stuck its hands in the pockets of its dirty jeans and shrugged.

"You're beautiful," I found myself saying, then instantly regretted it. _Mike_ was beautiful, even if he was a bit egocentric.

"Are you kidding me? I look like a pile of shit compared to you and your vampire buddies," it laughed without humor.

I didn't understand the joke. "What's shit?" I asked it as I ran my hands through my hair.

"Never mind," it smiled, a pretty crooked one that made its eyes light up.

"Are you male?" I asked it, wanting to stop calling it it if I could.

"Yes, I'm male, can't you tell? I look just like those male vampires, don't I? Or am I not handsome enough to be compared?" it – or I suppose, he – shrugged and laughed again, this time with feeling.

"You're just dirty, and your skin is an odd color, and you don't sparkle, and your eyes are green. Other than that, you are fairly handsome. And you're different." I inhaled and my nostrils greeted his mouthwatering scent again, reminding me of why I was talking to him. "That and you smell _delicious._"

"Woah, woah, I am not meant to be drained by you, you know. A simple way to deal with my scent would be to stop breathing. Of course, that would mean you wouldn't be able to talk to me anymore, which would be a shame. Here's my number," he took a pad of paper and a pen out of his pocket, scribbled something on the paper, and threw it at me.

I caught it easily and looked down to read it. I took his advice and stopped my breathing, which was something I'd heard of, but had never done myself before. It was awkward, and hard to do.

"By the way, my name's Edward. Edward Cullen," I looked up, but he was already gone. I began breathing again, but could only smell a hint of his scent in the air, nothing like how it had been when he'd been standing so close to me. He'd followed the direction of the breeze, so I couldn't pursue the scent even if I'd wanted to.

I didn't want to kill this Edward Cullen, at least not yet. He was something different in this vampiric world, that much was for certain. But what exactly _was_ he?

**Mmmm new story. Oops, you guys really want some Convince Me – among other things – I know! I will get on it soon, but I have school going on and the release of Twilight the movie is this Friday, and I really don't have as much time as I did. I only had time to get this new idea out… Which I hope you enjoy, by the way! :)**

**- Reese**


	2. Humans in a Bloodsucking World

**New chapter of my crazy opposite AU story! **

**Edward's POV:**

Why had I given her my number? She was a vampire, hardly something I should associate myself with. Hell, she didn't even know what I was. Their pesky government had seen to that. Besides, she was probably at least three hundred years old, if not more. I was seventeen. But she was beautiful, and it was the closest I'd ever gotten to a vampire in my entire life. My family and I tended to shy away from them.

As I ran back to them, making sure I was always going with the wind, not against it, I wondered if I should tell Carlisle about my encounter. I decided to keep it to myself for now, because I didn't think I would see her again anyways. But… she knew my scent now; she could hunt me down if she chose. I'd wait for her to call.

How bizarre, as one of the last humans on Earth I should have been much more cautious about my presence, and yet I had willingly given a vampire my cell phone number – a cell phone I'd stolen and that would probably die soon. Then I'd either have to go steal the charger, or steal a new one altogether, and then what? She wouldn't know my new number. I'd leave that alone till the time came.

"Hey Edward, where've you been?" Emmett greeted me as I walked into our makeshift camp – blue tarps strung up between the trees and covered with moss and leaves, and an assortment of metal poles that held up some of the sturdier tarps, which were used to sleep under. Sleeping in a world where no one slept was dangerous.

"Oh you know, making sure no one comes to eat us," I grinned and he elbowed me lightly. No doubt he knew I was making fun of the vampires – thanks to their own government, none of them knew that humans were in fact their intended prey. _We_ knew this because for the last five hundred years all of our ancestors had hidden just as we were now, passing this knowledge down to all us future human generations.

"What's with the goofy grin, Eddie?" Jasper called from the gas fire pit, where he was cutting chunks off the deer carcass and putting the bits in a large, crude pan over the fire for us to eat tonight. We used gasoline from cars to fuel the fire, and thus needed very little. It was probably bad for us, but it worked best so as not be detected.

The deer had been too easy to get – the vampires left corpses everywhere all the time. If we ventured far enough into farm country, instead of the mountains, sometimes we found cow, the most normal meat we could get.

Vegetables were scarce, and we usually ended up eating herbs from the forest, taking care to wear gloves when we picked them. Our scent could linger anywhere. As far as we knew, however, most vampires ignored the smell or took it as foreign and something not worth eating. Only Bella had recognized my scent for what it truly meant: food. I had seen it in her eyes, that flash of frenzied thirst and want.

I went over to the large logs we'd laid out as benches and sat down, careful that it didn't roll. It was big enough that it wouldn't. No one came to bother me, not even Carlisle, who was sitting playing cards with Esme, but he kept looking at me with a worried expression on his face.

I ignored him and picked at the loose threads in my grey pea coat, wishing I had clean clothes I could wear. I'd have to go steal some eventually.

The vampires might not remember that humans had once roamed among them, or even that they had once been humans themselves, but my ancestors did. The story about the pivotal time when humans were being massacred, changed, forgotten and beaten down had been one of my favorites when I was little, back when my father had been alive. He'd died of frostbite up in Alaska when I was ten, and my mother had died of a terrible flu carried by rats when I was three. Carlisle and Esme had found me in Alaska and brought me with them to Forks.

The story I'd mentioned told of how many humans who'd heard of the massacring had surrendered by begged to be changed, then turned right around and worked for the vampire government, changing and killing humans right and left, losing every scrap of humanity they held. The belief my ancestors held, and those of my adopted family, was that they had refused to give themselves up, swearing to God they would try and uphold the human race for as long as they could. No one wanted to be controlled by the terrible government the vampires had, or become a slave to the thirst that engulfed every single vampire. Living forever would have its perks, but vampires were killed by vampires all the time anyways. And now that most vampires couldn't even recognize a human scent anymore, being human wasn't so bad. Just very unhygienic.

I'd also heard of a time when humans were the dominant species, with the occasional vampire amongst their midst, unknown to humans. That time sounded amazing. How incredible it would be if I could walk into a store and buy things instead of stealing, or live in a house instead of shanties in the forest.

_Bella could give me all of that, _I realized, _but it would mean surrendering my family and my humanity. _I would go against everything my ancestors had stood for. But she, she was something different. My entire family had their soulmates, and I swear she might be mine. If only there was a way to make her human again… She didn't know she could change me if she wished, and for that I was glad. For once I thanked their government and their stupid laws and secrecy.

Darkness fell slowly around me, the light from twilight filtering through the trees and fading into night until I could no longer see without the help of fire light. I stood up to go help my brothers with the 'blackout curtains,' as we so affectionately called them. There were four of them, and they masked the light made by the fire when strung up in a circle. Made of heavy black fabric, they created the perfect screen from the vampires' nocturnal eyes.

"Edward, help me with this one, will ya?" Emmett called softly from across the dark fire pit. I stepped around it nimbly but nearly ran into little Alice, who scoffed jokingly and smiled at me as she helped me reach Emmett.

"I can't see a thing, let's hurry up with this," Rosalie complained as she crossed her arms and sat down on one of the smaller logs set around the pit.

"Well help me with this one then Rose," Alice suggested as she held up the smallest curtain. Carlisle and Esme were busy with the one of the other ones. Jasper had one all to himself.

Sighing, Rose got up and nearly tripped into the fire pit, but Carlisle caught her arm swiftly as he held up his curtain with his other hand. "Watch yourself, dear," he smiled kindly, as was Carlisle's nature. That man was the epitome of benevolence.

"Thanks," she replied gruffly, then marched towards Alice and grabbed a corner of their curtain. Only Rosalie would be rude to Carlisle. She hated being human, thinking it would be much more glamorous and easy to be a vampire. The only reason she stayed mortal was because she felt guilty going against her mother's dying wishes after she'd been shot by her husband, Rosalie's father, when Rose was fifteen. He had gone mad hiding in the wilderness, and decided death was better, so he'd shot himself and then his wife, using a silencer. Rosalie was on guard duty, and by the time she got back, her father was dead, her mother extremely close to. She'd told Rose to never stop fighting, and to help keep the human race alive.

I don't know who she'd been kidding though; it was getting harder to stay hidden, and bringing children into this world was simply too difficult. It was a miracle our parents, and their parents for that matter, had been able to do so. I was glad no pressure was on me to produce more humans, since I had no one to perform that certain job with.

We finished hanging the curtains around the fire, then sat back and watched as Jasper lit it up. The deer would take about twenty minutes, and for the time being, Esme produced the hose water Emmett and I had managed to steal earlier that morning. It was a rare treat, and she'd kept it cold by sticking it in the cloth cooler we had – the only one we owned. We all produced our mugs, chipped and broken in places, each with our names on them, to get some of the lucky find. We'd stolen all the mugs from a vampire couple that looked like elderly humans, and liked to have their blood in mugs while they read the newspaper. It was almost human…

"Edward, will you please keep watch until the deer's ready?" Carlisle asked me softly, and I hastened to comply. Having the curtains up did have a drawback: we couldn't watch the rest of the camp.

I drew back one curtain just enough to allow my body to pass through the hole, then quickly slid it back into place. I went over to my tent and sat down on the blankets and pillows that made up my bed, keeping watch on the surrounding forest. I only had one thing on my mind as I sat there: Bella.

I would call her, I decided. I took out the stolen cell phone, hid the light it emitted with a blanket – blackout conditions were essential at night – and searched through the contact list. I hadn't gotten her number, but if I was lucky this vampire's phone would have it. Vampires rarely changed their phone numbers, despite moving often, so hopefully Bella's number would be the same. I found it in S, listed as Swan, Bella. Right before Swan, Charlie. I hit call and held it up to my ear, praying it would be her.

"Hello Edward Cullen," she addressed me formally, and I sighed in relief. Thank goodness it was her.

"Hello Bella," I greeted her in return, imagining her perfect, glistening face in my mind, surrounded by her luminescent mahogany hair.

"Why did you call me?" She wanted to know, and I frowned. Why _had_ I called her?

_Oh you know, I'm on guard duty and I'm bored. Plus, I think you're beautiful._ "Oh well, I know you don't sleep, and I thought maybe this would be a good time for us to get to know each other better." I smiled; sleep would be a new concept for her, just as shit had been.

"What's sleep?" she asked, just as I'd thought she would.

How in the world would I tell her what it was? "Well, it's when someone closes their eyes for a long period of time, such as eight hours straight, and rests. Of course you don't know what it is, vampires don't do it. You don't need to." Hopefully she'd understood.

"Oh, that's strange," she sounded thoughtful, and I resisted the urge to laugh.

"So… Bella… are you seeing anyone right now?" Was I asking a _vampire_ if she was available?

"No… I don't see anyone at the moment, actually," she sounded confused, and I rolled my eyes.

Did I have to use the vampire terminology for this? They had sex with each other all the time, since it produced nothing, to see if they were compatible. Except they called it 'taking' or 'being taken.' I sighed quietly, knowing she would catch it anyways, and asked, "Has anyone taken you, or have you taken anyone recently?" I didn't know whether to laugh or scream at how stupid I was being.

"Well there was this one male who wanted to take me today, but I refused him because of _you._ Or more accurately, your _smell_." She spoke of my scent as if she regretted letting me live.

"Yeah I was thinking that was why you were attracted to me." _Or maybe you saw my_ human_ penis…_ I laughed at my thoughts, and I heard a sharp intake of breath from her end.

"Why are you laughing?" She demanded, and I imagined her perfectly arched dark eyebrows slanting together.

I was not about to tell her just _what _I had been thinking that had caused me to laugh, but then I realized something. We would have a very difficult time understanding each other if she didn't understand basic human needs and functions.

She would have to go speak to… the werewolves. Or more accurately, the shape-changing immortal Native Americans down at La Push. They were the closest thing to humans in this vampire world, except for us Cullens of course. Originally created because vampires posed a threat to human society, these werewolves remained because the vampires still existed, though they could live together peacefully now that vampires didn't feed off humans any longer. They didn't know about us, but we knew about them.

"Bella, have you ever met the wolves from La Push?" I hesitated, hoping they would be the right people to send her to.

"Yes, of course, my father deals with their Chief Billy Black all the time," she responded, and I relaxed. I knew just who to send her to then.

"Alright then, tomorrow morning, go see his son Jacob, and ask him to tell you about humans," I needed her to be very careful about this… "And tell no one where you're going, especially your father. This is the only way we'll be able to continue speaking."

"Will you come with me?" She asked, surprisingly. I hadn't expected that. That would mean telling the wolves we still existed though… Of course, they might already know. Their legends of us still stood strong, which was why I was getting Bella to go there in the first place.

I would go with her, I decided, be an ambassador to the wolves, who wouldn't rat us out to the vampires – they _were_ sworn to protect our kind, after all – and hopefully help her to understand what I was.

"Yes, I will Bella," I answered, smiling at the thought. I had a date with a vampire tomorrow morning… And one that thirsted for my blood at that.

**Okay, why does he want her to know he's human so badly?? Uh oh… I think he trusts her too much.**

**And Jacob Black!!! Who woulda thought? Well it makes sense, 'werewolves exist because the vampires do,' so there'd be a pile of them now! Without a purpose though… And of course they'd remember the humans! So, what'd you think? Review please! And I know it's far-fetched, bear with me while I explain the gist of it in the next few chapters!**

**- Reese **


	3. What I Once Was

**A/N: I haven't updated this in… SHIT, over two years. I want to finish all my fics, I've just been busy… **

"Thanks," I answered, relieved that I wouldn't have to go see the wolves alone. They repulsed me, though I was forced to remain polite to them. Killing one was a death sentence. "So, shall we meet when the sun comes up?"

"Not quite that soon, please, I need a bit more sleep than that," for a fraction of a second I was confused by sleep, but I remembered what he'd said about resting. "How about I call you when I'm ready to go, sound good?"

"Sure Edward, that will be fine. Where shall we meet?" I waited politely, my chin resting on my hand. I stared out into the night, waiting for his answer.

I heard a small sigh and a chuckle before he replied, "Somewhere not quite as populated. How about the boundary line?"

I scoffed as he mentioned this so called 'boundary line.' It was virtually non-existent, though technically it was still there. We came and went as we pleased, as did the wolves. The other curious thing was that he knew about it. "Sure," I agreed, still chuckling, "I'll meet you at the boundary line after you call me."

"Yes Bella, I'm sure you can remember that," I heard soft laughter and again wondered what was so funny. Of course I could remember it. "I'll see you tomorrow," he added and I took that as a goodbye.

"Goodbye, Edward Cullen," I smiled as his name rolled off my tongue. Then, in spite of myself I added, "Have a good sleep!"

He laughed louder this time and I hesitated, wondering if I'd said it wrong. "Thanks Bella, and you, well you have a good night."

"Why thank you Edward. I will, most definitely." I heard another soft chuckle from him right before I hung up.

Why was I so enthralled by him? Of course, I had no easy answer to that, but one of the possibilities could be because he was different. I had no clue what he was, he was much more informal than me…but maybe I was so drawn to him because he smelled so _good_. I hoped that didn't mean he was some kind of animal; I would regret killing him, I was sure of that.

"Good morning Bella," Edward said to me when he answered the phone, and I hesitated. Was this a strange greeting of his? When light shone, we greeted each other with 'Happy Light,' and when darkness came, we said 'Merry Dark.' But I liked Good Morning, it had a nice ring to it. Not like Happy Light.

"Oh, hello Edward," I replied politely. "Was your night very eventful?"

A laugh from him, and a sharp intake of breath, as if he was trying to stop laughing. "Well, I guess so. I slept, remember? So I wasn't very active…"

"Active? As in live?" I asked, puzzled yet again by his strange vocabulary.

"As in resting; you know, not awake? Oh, forget it, where are you?"

"At home in my room, why, where are you?" I waited courteously for his response.

He laughed again; why did everything I say make him chuckle? "Oh, just somewhere in the forest, on my way to the boundary line. I shall see you there."

"Yes, you shall. I'm on my way right now then," I got up off the floor and exited my room via the window, landing with a small thump. Gah; if I had been being careful, I wouldn't have made any noise.

A minute later of flat-out running and I was at the boundary line; Edward was just coming up a hill behind me, his breathing affected. I had never heard anything like it.

"Why are you breathing like that? Are you trying to smell something too far away for you to smell it properly?" Another laugh; this was going to get annoying.

"Physical activity is much more taxing on humans than vampires," he smiled at me as he approached and continued explaining, "But this is what we're here to figure out, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is, though what _you_ need to figure out I have no idea."

Just then, a tall, dark-skinned man approached us; his black hair waved down past his chin and he was bare save for a dirty, torn pair of denim shorts hanging from below his waist.

One of the werewolves, and the Chief's son. Jacob Black. "Hello Jacob," I greeted him by smiling.

"Hey Miss Swan," he replied grudgingly, cocking his eyebrow at me. "Who's the human?"

"This is Edward Cullen," I turned sideways to grin at him, and he waved lazily. If he was nervous at all, he didn't show it.

"Morning, Jacob," he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked forwards to stand beside me. "How'd you know I was human?"

Jacob chuckled. "You don't smell terrible, you sure as hell aren't Native, and your eyes are green. You're also not" – he glanced at me and raised his eyebrows – "sparkling."

Edward laughed, and stepped forward to shake Jacob's hand. "God, could you imagine? I mean, _she_ looks alright, but a dude…"

To my surprise, they embraced, laughing together over _my _sparkle. I didn't understand either species.

"We thought there were humans around this area…" Jacob began as we walked towards his town, "Well, me and a few others did. The elders weren't so convinced, but they're the ones losing their senses…"

"We knew you were here, but my adopted father was wary about approaching the tribe," Edward and Jacob walked at a far slower pace than I did normally, and slowing myself down was agonizing. As I tried to match my step with theirs, Edward continued, "In fact, he would probably shoot me if he knew I was speaking to both of you."

I couldn't leave that alone. "Shoot you?" I cocked my head to the side, confused.

Edward just laughed, _again_. "I'll show you a gun- I mean, a thing that shoots, sometime."

"But what can I learn _now_?" I was getting tired of feeling like my eyes were always closed.

Jacob brought us to the beach nearby, and Edward and I took a seat on a piece of driftwood. I noticed Edward sat downwind of me, and for that I was thankful – I had caught whiffs of his scent on the walk down, and had had to force myself to stop breathing again.

"Alright, Bella," Jacob stood across from us, bare arms crossed. _Him_ I could smell, and he smelled dreadful. "What would you like to know?"

"I don't know what I know and what I don't know, nor do I know what there is to know," I replied, and Edward began chuckling beside me.

"Tell her the legend," Edward prompted, and I started to question, but Jacob held out a hand.

"This is going to be hard to believe, but please, listen to what I'm saying," Jacob smiled, just barely, and suddenly his voice changed – became more powerful – as he told me:

"Thousands of years ago, a species by the name of human walked the earth. There were six billion of them, and vampires numbered only in the thousands. Of werewolves, there were even less.

"Vampires were in hiding from the human world, living in the forests and hunting in secret. They only showed their faces at night, when the sun did not lend a glistening to their skin. Humans were their prey, even more delicious than deer or mountain lion.

"Almost no vampires strayed from hunting humans, but there were some who did. One day, these vampires believed it was time to end the human race, and create a perfect, harmonious, vampiric world; animals would be prey, and humans would be extinct.

"They began to build armies of newborn vampires to destroy the humans, and were very successful. Humans succumbed easily under the force, and were wiped out in less than a century.

"Werewolves fought valiantly to protect those humans around them, but we were outnumbered, and a great number of us perished. As vampires replaced humans, though, our numbers increased, and we swore one day that we would –"

Here Jacob broke off, and he shook his head in apparent distress. I had been sitting motionless, and as I took a large breath of air I realized I hadn't been breathing at all. "I had no idea… I had heard some rumours, about those weaker than us, but I only thought they were weak vampires, useless…" I looked at Edward, pondering once again his slow gait and "sleeping" and breathlessness…

"There are some things I don't understand…why is Edward so slow?" He rolled his eyes, but answered my question himself.

"Vampires have superior speed to humans, and never feel the need to rest. If I stood up and ran to La Push, I would become fatigued and need to sit down, or even sleep, to regain my energy. Your energy, Bella, never runs out." Edward looked at me expectantly; hoping I understood, I suppose.

I nodded slowly. "Okay…"

"Another thing that is different between us: vampires cannot reproduce. Your government knows this, and it terrifies them. If too many of you die, fighting over land, they will not have any way to make more of you…though I suspect they are working on it as we speak."

Jacob had sat down on the sand, and was watching our exchange with apparent disinterent, but his eyes flit between mine and Edward's faces eagerly. "…reproduce…?" I did not understand this word.

Edward sighed and rested his hands on his knees. "Have you ever seen a vampire who was smaller than you, had smaller limbs, was shorter?"

I nodded, and he continued, "Those were once human children. A human child, as one is called, develops into a human adult, such as I am, and you once were. Human adults…are taken, by each other, and this forms a child in the female. After nine – a short amount of time, the child comes out of the female, and another human walks the earth. It is how you were born, once."

"But when I was born, my eyes were red and I thirsted for blood," I argued, remembering that terrible first hunger. I could not remember what had been before it…

"Born as a vampire, yes. And speaking of: the building of newborn armies Jacob was talking about, do you remember how you were made a vampire?"

I shook my head, still confused. "I remember opening my eyes, seeing in a mirror that they were bright red, and feeling a terrible burning in the back of my throat…"

Edward was leaning towards me now. "Think harder Bella, did you feel anything before that?"

"I felt…" I brushed my hair back from my neck, and felt the raised bumps there; a flash of bright light and a blonde male surfaced in my memory. "I felt…pain." I hadn't felt pain in years; not since I had been born…

"And…I felt burning, terrible burning; I was screaming… I remember… a cold metal table beneath me, and my hands… my hands were slipping in blood…" But where had the blood come from? I had not drank from anything yet…

I blinked, and noticed that Edward was grinning manically at me. "You're remembering when you were human."

"You keep saying that!" I cried, exasperated. "What do you mean, I was once human?"

"All vampires were. To create a vampire, a vampire must bite a human. Then they burn in agony for some time, as their body changes; and when they wake, all that they desire is blood." Edward looked sickened.

Jacob had been silent for a while, but he spoke softly now. "Bella, if you think back before the burning, and think hard, you will remember at least the last few moments of your human life. Think harder, and you may be able to remember who you once were. All vampires have this ability; they are just unaware that they once were anything _but_ a vampire."

Intrigued as I was, I nodded enthusiastically, though I had no idea how to think back farther than I had already gone. "I will think on it."

Edward flinched his arms in an odd way, and looked as if he were about to move closer to me, but instead he smiled and said, "I would love to hear your story."

I smiled back, and answered, "I would love to hear yours."

**Does this still make sense? Is anyone interested…I'm excited to write *gasp* Bella's history next chapter :D And you will all see the vampire government for the first time… ****Soon this time I promise, oh my gosh D: **

**- Alea**


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